One Step at a Time
by the.terrorist
Summary: Sasu/Saku. "Look, Sasuke, I'm willing to try to work with you again, but keep your damn snake away from me, alright?" It was so easy to make assumptions.


The silence was deafening.

Sasuke, being Sasuke, found that particular aspect of life to be quite enjoyable. He had been obligated to get used to it ever since he was a small child and the rules and regulations of being nobility were forcefully embedded in his demeanor. There was silence at the table, when they ate, there was silence when they worked, there was silence when they practiced ninja tactics.

Then there was silence because there was no one in the house with him to be loud anymore—another sort of silence; a painful sort that reminded him of the fact that he was alone, forever now.

Then came a period of his life when he _craved_ the silence—when his team was loud enough to cause him headaches, yet not loud enough to make him hate them. Enough, though, so that when he came home in the evening, he was grateful for the fact that he was able to sleep an entire, restful night without having the _stupid dobe_ snoring in his ears.

Then, when he left the village, silence became his best companion. More than it had ever been a torture, now it became something peaceful, something soothing. The reason was simple. It was the only thing there that was untainted, the only thing that didn't make him feel sick about himself and the wrong path he had chosen.

Time passed. He made decisions and formed a new team. Quiet moments became once again hard to obtain. After a while, after the course of events changed and his life was once more turned upside down, he began to run away from them. Being alone with his own thoughts was now his worst nightmare. But eventually, as life had been so keen on proving him, time after time, he was unable to escape it.

Now, he was grateful. Grateful to silence because it had helped him reflect, make the right decision, and walk down the right path after so much time of being lost. It had helped him return to the place he had once called home. It had helped him achieve the life his elder brother had wanted for him.

So perhaps, in the long run, his relationship with silence had been a love-hate one.

But he had never been as bothered by it as he was in this particular moment.

He was sitting on an armchair, in the corner of a small hotel room. The sun's dying rays were filtering through the windows, the light summer breeze unsettling the white curtains and giving a fresh feel to the otherwise confined space.

Across from him, in another armchair in front of the bed, sat none other than his ex-teammate—his _female_ teammate. Who was showing her unusual and almost _inexplicable_ aversion towards being forced to continue to work with him by ignoring him—purposefully and deliberately.

Through a glare that was annoyed, patronizing, and downright confused, Sasuke watched her. She was completely silent. Her legs were crossed, and one was bouncing impatiently in the air while she examined her sea-foam painted nails in a bored fashion. She seemed completely unbothered by his presence in the room, but Sasuke knew better than to believe that, because her body language told him differently.

She was not bothered because he flustered her or because he impeded her from focusing properly, though, like he had previously imagined things would be like once he was back on Team Seven. She was bothered because his presence _disturbed_ and _annoyed_ her, because she felt that he didn't deserve to be there—that, in her own words, they shouldn't have to deal with him.

Both Naruto and Kakashi seemed to resent her view. Naruto because he was Naruto and he would be forever faithful to him and because it hurt him to see his two best friends constantly glaring at each other. Kakashi not because he didn't understand her, for he seemed to side with her when it came to thinking that the Uchiha had some redemption to do before he could be welcomed back into their lives with open arms, but because he wanted the mission to be completed—and her stubbornness was nearly making it impossible.

Which was the reason why they were currently alone in the hotel room, in the first place.

Apparently, Kakashi thought he was being subtle when he whisked Naruto away with the promise of ramen and let the two of them, 'the masterminds', to plan the rest of the mission.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes as a heavy sigh escaped her lips. She had crossed her arms over her chest and the bouncing of her foot intensified. She was looking away, annoyance visibly carved into her features as her green eyes glared at the window.

He cleared his throat.

She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"Sakura," he nearly growled, but succeeded in keeping the traces of exasperation out of his voice in order to sound indifferent.

He got no response.

Clenching his jaw, he huffed an annoyed puff of air. He could understand that she was upset, that he had betrayed her on every possible level, that she didn't want him there, in her life, in her team, but did she _have_ to be so childish?

"You do know we have to complete this mission one way or another."

Under normal circumstances, Sasuke could care less about the fact that she had chosen to be idiotic and resentful and a child, unlike the great kunoichi everyone praised her to be, and would rather slit his own throat than stoop to her level to ask something of her.

But these were not normal circumstances, because Uchiha Sasuke was on probation, so one could say that his entire fate depended on the outcome of each and every single mission that he had to undergo with his former team. He had to complete the given tasks as soon as possible and in the fastest and most efficient way so that Tsunade understood that he was serious, that he deserved to be absolved of his crimes, so that she would let him take part in the Chunnin Exams for once and advance in ranks so that he could be in ANBU as soon as possible.

And that, he told himself every time, would mean getting away from her.

"You do know that the faster we get this over with, the sooner we finish the mission and return home," he pointed out, slowly, as though he was talking to a child.

This time, she deemed him worthy of an answer. "I know perfectly well what I need to do in order to complete the mission. It does not include working with you."

"What happened to _teamwork_?" he sneered derisively.

"We managed that quite well in your absence, so being here ruins our equilibrium, Sasuke-_kun_," she spat, leaning forward.

Then she slumped back in her seat and continued to glare out the window.

Sasuke thought he could have lunged for her throat right then and there, but controlled himself for the sake of a better future. Heaving a sigh, he looked at her. This woman was probably the only person in the world who could make him so angry nowadays. She was worse than Naruto himself.

"You will enter the building undercover to listen to what they are planning," he stated, keeping his cool. "The problem is that you need someone to accompany you, so that, in case something goes wrong, we will know. We will not be able to sense your chakra, because it will be masked. You do not want to work with me, so you most likely do not want me there." He paused, waiting for a reaction. It never came. "I already have the solution to this."

Biting his thumb, he twisted his fingers in a couple of successive hand-signs. A puff of smoke later, and a small, stripped snake sat at his feet, eyes curiously looking in the pinkette's direction.

He couldn't keep in his sadistic smirk as she screamed and climbed all the way to the top of the armchair, green eyes wide with surprise and fright.

"Sakura, this is Yuki," he declared. "_She_ is willing to work with you."

* * *

When Naruto and Kakashi returned from their stroll at a deliberately slow pace, the corridor was silent. The two shared an uncertain look, wondering if their plan had worked, since it hardly seemed like they had made any progress at all. The closer they got to the room, though, the more obvious it became that appearances were deceiving.

_"Sasuke, no!"_ their teammate's muffled voice sounded through the door, causing a furrow to appear between Naruto's brows. He looked at Kakashi, perplexed, who looked back at him, lost as well. He opened his mouth to speak, but a squeak interrupted him.

_"No!"_ she screamed, distressed, before her voice lowered and gained a pacifistic tone, _"Look, Sasuke, I'm willing to try to work with you again, but keep your damn snake away from me, alright?"_

Naruto blinked.

Kakashi grinned underneath his mask. "Well, I believe that calls for understanding and a little more patience from our part…"

"What?" the blond-haired boy demanded, finally speaking up to his top volume. "No way in hell, old man!"

Lunging for the door, he pushed it open before Kakashi could even reach out to stop him, causing both of them to stumble unceremoniously into the room. Their eyes widened at the sight that met them.

Sakura was standing on the bed, practically plastered to the wall, pink hair disheveled and green eyes wide.

Sasuke, on the other hand, stood in front of her, on the floor; with a snake wrapped around his hand and a triumphant smirk on his face, and a certain smugness about him that neither of them had seen in a long, long time.

* * *

_**A/N:** Written for SasuSaku Month. I figured I should post it here, as well.  
_

_As usual, reviews are very much loved! :)  
_


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